Bouldering Problems big and small

Long time no blog y'all - my bad, LIfe's been humming along with a new obssession; bouldering. Bouldering is an offshoot of climbing; no ropes, just steep climbing and dynamic moves and a whole lot of strength. It's hard. The first time I ever tried it I figured there was no way I'd do that stuff and stuck with the types of climbing I was already doing.

Then along came a Turkish dude who happened to boulder alot, alot more than the average bear, and alot more than anyone I knew anyhow. He's been happy to teach and I've been keen to learn. I had never really paid attention to the sport much. We played in my garage more like it was climbing than bouldering. Seemed like a great opportunity to get better and it never hurts when its a young, attractive climber who's willing to help, c'mon I never said I was blind... ;-) Ilke (the turkish dude's name) is patient with me. He's started to figure out my lack of memory about my left and right and has taken to nudging my proper arm or leg with which he wants me to use. I think he got tired of saying "Your left, left, no your other left." I'm more of a kinetic learner anyhow so you can tell me something (a 30% I'll understand you) or you can demonstrate (60% I'll figure it out), or you can take my arm and move it to the proper hold. I might feel like a marionette but I'll figure out what I'm supposed to do much faster. Unless Ilke is expecting me to do something really stupid like twist on some crimper and then dyno to a hold way up high that I've never touched before. Ain't gonna happen, I don't care how cute the dude is spotting me. I can feel Colin's amusement at those moments.

I remember what Will Gadd said about bouldering "you have to get out there and try really, really hard" Yup, that about sums it up. Now I'm at the commercial gym 3 times a week, I'm working out with trainer Nathan, climbing on the weekends and I still feel like a weakling at the bouldering gym. Well OK that's not entirely true, I'm finally improving and getting stronger so that's encouraging. I think the fingerboard workout regime that fellow climber Gerhard gave me is helping. Ya...... I know... I know... I sound obssessed, its fun to feel obssessed again. That's how I felt with ice climbing when it was fresh and new and I didn't know enough to be terrified of the danger. I did enjoy ice by the end of the season and now I'm really excited about having a strong rock season. I don't think there will be any big trips planned this year, probably more shorter climbing trips to awesome spots in Canada and the US.

The other aspect of bouldering I'm enjoing is a sense of community. There is an interesting mix of people from teenagers to a couple older hard core dudes who are still cranking. I realized that the comraderie found in my garage is also found at the commercial gyms or can be. I enjoy the mix of socializing and climbing more I expected I would. And no one dies which I quite enjoy. :-)

Hmmmmm... that's about all I have for musings right now... will report back sooner though